You can contribute to the Resident Program:
People from all over the world come to Upaya to
practice, serve, and learn. Upaya completely supports their presence
as they stay with us from three months to a year. Please support
this program.

EDITOR'S NOTE

This week we celebrate the skillful means of building the beloved community, as lived and envisioned by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In an interview with the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Kingian Nonviolence Trainer Kazu Haga talks about working with communities to invest in peace, actualizing the vision Dr. King carried for an international, institutionalized nonviolence. Rev. John Dear shares MLK's "To-Do" list in terms of nonviolent resistance tactics.

Rev. Dear also shares his reflection on a Plowshares action of anti-nuclear civil disobedience for which he spent time in jail 20 years ago. We look forward to welcoming him at the end of February to share the wisdom of his peacemaking work in a unique dialogue with Roshi Joan.

Jason Espada highlights the alignment of King's vision with the practice of metta, lovingkindness. And Roshi Joan Halifax reflects on the formative role of King's ethic on her lifelong activism.

In our zendo this week, Sensei Irène Kaigetsu Kyojo Bakker, John Dunne, and Shinzan Palma are leading a sesshin around the theme of Bodhisattva. In an ongoing series of talks Sensei Kaigetsu explores the practices of a bodhisattva.

As we take in these teachings and study the dharma of Rev. Dr. King, may we embody the bodhisattva heart, furthering the work of great peacemakers to build a beloved community that includes all of life.

ROSHI JOAN: News, Teachings, Travels

Roshi invites the community to Upaya and Shinzan's Shusohossenshiki on January 26 at 11:30AM. Please join us for this special ceremony for Shinzan Palma.

We are accepting applications for Upaya's resident program. Please consider joining Roshi, Visiting Teachers, and Upaya for three months or more of dedicated practice and learning. By application, click here.

Roshi as well has a number of papers she has written on compassion. If you wish to receive a copy, please write the office: upaya@upaya.org

For several new videos of interviews with Roshi Joan on Upaya's Blog, click here.

Roshi Joan started a Google+ Community and more than 1500 people have joined so far. Click here to join.

Upaya is guided by a series of remarkable Visiting Teachers. We are grateful for Sensei Robert Thomas (Nov 2013), Sensei Irene Bakker (Jul/Aug 2013), Roshi Eido Frances Carney (Sep 2013). Also, we are happy that Sensei Alan Senauke is now a Core Teacher for our Chaplaincy Training and will be a Visiting Teacher in spring, 2014. Note that Roshi Norman Fischer will be leading Upaya's Summer Ango in 2014 and Sensei Robert Thomas will be leading spring sesshin, 2014 and will be a Visiting Teacher in fall 2014.

Roshi now has five new books available for sale at Upaya: Four are photography books — "Seeing Inside," "About Face," "Original Face: Unmediated Expressions of Tibet, Nepal, Burma," and "Leaning into the Light." "Lone Mallard" is a book of her haiku. In addition, over a hundred of her remarkable photos are available to look at (and purchase) on Upaya's website:https://www.upaya.org/seeing-inside/

Path of Service: An Interview with Upaya's Shinzan Palma

"How does humor play into your experience of the dharma?" a fellow resident asks Shinzan, Upaya's Temple Coordinator and senior resident. "Because I find you to be a pretty funny guy."

"Humor is the base of life," Shinzan says. "Not to take anything too seriously. To be silly, to be goofy, to dismantle what we call 'the self.' Humor helps us do that." In his recent dharma talk on the Three Marks of Existence, Shinzan shared an exercise that helps him step outside of his experience of the self, when he finds it's becoming too rigid: "When you are upset, when you have something you are struggling with, go to a bathroom, and look at yourself in a mirror. And then let the emotions come out and you will see it. And you will see how pointless it is to be holding on, and there is going to be a release. First thing, I am laughing at myself. You create another persona, to see... the emptiness of such a feeling or situation... It's gone. It was last week."

FEATURE ARTICLES

blank

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "To-Do List": Rev. John Dear

To mark Dr. King's birthday, I've been reflecting on the principles of nonviolence which he learned during the historic yearlong bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. After Rosa Parks refused to sit in the back of the bus, broke the segregation law, and was arrested on December 1, 1955, the African-American leadership in Montgomery famously chose young Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to lead their campaign. He was an unknown quantity. Certainly no one expected him to emerge as a Moses-like tower of strength. No one imagined that he would invoke Gandhi's method of nonviolent resistance in Christian language as the basis for the boycott. But from day one, he was a force to be reckoned with.

With the help of Bayard Rustin and Glenn Smiley of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Dr. King articulated a methodology of nonviolence that still rings true. It's an ethic of nonviolent resistance that's also a strategy of hope, which can help us today in the thousands of Montgomery-like movements around the world, including the Occupy movements and the ongoing Arab Spring movements.

Dr. King outlined his way of nonviolence in his 1958 account of the Montgomery movement, Stride Toward Freedom (published by Harper and Row, pp. 83-88). There he tells the story of the movement and his own personal journey, then offers six, basic points for nonviolence. Dr. King lived and taught these essential ingredients of active nonviolence until the day he died. (For an excellent commentary on them, I recommend Roots of Resistance: The Nonviolent Ethic of Martin Luther King, Jr., by William D. Watley, Valley Forge, Judson Press, 1985.)

These fundamental principles, along with his six steps for nonviolent action, make up Dr. King's "to do" list:

First, nonviolence is the way of the strong. Nonviolence is not for the cowardly, the weak, the passive, the apathetic, or the fearful. "Nonviolent resistance does resist," he wrote. "It is not a method of stagnant passivity. While the nonviolent resister is passive in the sense that he is not physically aggressive toward his opponent, his mind and emotions are always active, constantly seeking to persuade his opponent that he is wrong. The method is passive physically, but strongly active spiritually. It is not passive non-resistance to evil; it is active nonviolent resistance to evil."

Second, the goal of nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation. "Nonviolence does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent but to win friendship and understanding," King teaches. "The nonviolent resister must often express his protest through noncooperation or boycotts, but he realizes that these are not ends themselves; they are merely means to awaken a sense of moral shame in the opponent... The aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community, while the aftermath of violence is tragic bitterness."

Third, nonviolence seeks to defeat evil, not people. Nonviolence is directed "against forces of evil rather than against persons who happen to be doing the evil. It is evil that the nonviolent resister seeks to defeat, not the persons victimized by evil."

"Not only did King depersonalize the goal of nonviolence by defining it in terms of reconciliation rather than the defeat of the opponent, but he also depersonalized the target of the nonviolent resister's attack," Watley writes. "The opponent for King is a symbol of a greater evil... The evildoers were victims of evil as much as were the individuals and communities that the evildoers oppressed." In this thinking, King echoes St. Paul's admonition that our struggle is ultimately not against particular people but systems--"the principalities and powers."

Fourth, nonviolence includes a willingness to accept suffering without retaliation, to accept blows from the opponent without striking back. "The nonviolent resister is willing to accept violence if necessary, but never to inflict it," King writes. "Unearned suffering is redemptive. Suffering, the nonviolent resister realizes, has tremendous educational and transforming possibilities." That's a tough pill to swallow but King insists that there is power in the acceptance of unearned suffering love, as the nonviolent resister Jesus showed on Calvary and Dr. King himself showed in his own life and death.

In Stride Toward Freedom, King urged nonviolent resisters to paraphrase Gandhi and say:

We will match your capacity to inflict suffering with our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. We will not hate you, but we cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws. Do to us what you will and we will still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children; send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our communicates and drag us out on some wayside road, beating us and leaving us half dead, and we will still love you. But we will soon wear you down by our capacity to suffer. And in winning our freedom we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process. (p. 194)

Fifth, nonviolence avoids not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. It practices agape/love in action. "The nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent; he also refuses to hate him. At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love." Cutting off the chain of hate "can only be done by projecting the ethic of love to the center of our lives." Love means "understanding, redemptive good will toward all people." For King, this agape/love is the power of God working within us, Watley explains. That is why King could exhort us to the highest possible, unconditional, universal, all-encompassing love. King the preacher believed that God worked through us when we used the weapon of nonviolent love.

Sixth, nonviolence is based on the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice. "The believer in nonviolence has deep faith in the future," King writes. "He knows that in his struggle for justice he has cosmic companionship. There is a creative force in this universe that works to bring the disconnected aspects of reality into a harmonious whole." King's philosophy, spirituality, theology and methodology were rooted in hope.

These core principles explain why, for King, nonviolence was "the morally excellent way." As he boldly expanded his campaign from Montgomery to Atlanta, Albany and eventually Birmingham, he demonstrated six basic steps of nonviolent action that could be applied to any nonviolent movement for social change. As explained in Active Nonviolence (Vol. I, ed. by Richard Deats, The Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1991), every campaign of nonviolence usually undergoes these basic stages toward justice, and they are worth our consideration:

First, information gathering. We need to do our homework, and learn everything we can about the issue, problem or injustice so that we become experts on the topic.

Second, education. Then we do our best to inform everyone, including the opposition, about the issue, and use every form of media to educate the population.

Third, personal commitment. As we engage in the public struggle for nonviolent social change, we renew ourselves every day in the way of nonviolence. As we learn that nonviolent struggles take time, we commit ourselves to the long haul and do the hard inner work necessary to center ourselves in love and wisdom, and prepare ourselves for the possibility of rejection, arrest, jail or suffering for the cause.

Fourth, negotiations. We try to engage our opponent, point out their injustice, propose a way out, and resolve the situation, using win-win strategies.

Fifth, direct action. If necessary, we take nonviolent direct action to force the opponent to deal with the issue and resolve the injustice, using nonviolent means such as boycotts, marches, rallies, petitions, voting campaigns and civil disobedience.

Sixth, reconciliation. In the end, we try to reconcile with our opponents, even to become their friends (as Nelson Mandela demonstrated in South Africa), so that we all can begin to heal and move closer to the vision of the "beloved community."

Dr. King's principles and methodology of nonviolence outline a path to social change that still holds true. In his strategy, the ends are already present in the means; the seeds of a peaceful outcome can be found in our peaceful means. He argues that if we resist injustice through steadfast nonviolence and build a movement along these lines, we take the high ground as demonstrated in the lives of Jesus and Gandhi and can redeem society and create a new culture of nonviolence.

"May all who suffer oppression in this world reject the self-defeating method of retaliatory violence and choose the method that seeks to redeem," Dr. King concluded. "Through using this method wisely and courageously we will emerge from the bleak and desolate midnight of 'man's inhumanity to man' into the bright daybreak of freedom and justice." Amen.

Reflections on Rev. Dr. King: Roshi Joan Halifax

I feel deep gratitude for having lived at the same time as some of the great and courageous men and women of history. One of these individuals was the Civil Rights and Anti-war activist and Nobel Laureate, Dr. Martin Luther King.

Dr. King was a guiding force in the lives of many young women and men in the 1960's. His commitment to the civil rights of those who were denied them, the principles of non-violence even in the face of violence toward those who stood against violence, his work for the protection of human dignity of all, and his courage to speak truth to power, as Gandhi did, primed our actions and views and influenced many to join with each other in working toward a more sane, braver, wiser, and kinder world.

I believe it was he, more than any other person in my youth, who brought me to a sense of how important it was to live a principled life, and a life of committed engagement to social and spiritual transformation.

When Dr. King said: "All I'm saying is simply this, that all life is interrelated, that somehow we're caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be," we listened and felt the truth of his realization. We endeavored to act from this vision, share in it, and respond to it. We felt that Dr. King's insight regarding interdependence was profoundly congruent with our lived experience, and as well with the tenets of the Buddhism many of us were drawn to at this time.

His words guided many of us, including me, into a life of service, social engagement, and contemplative practice. Our lives opened through the door of Dr. King's vision and action. I believe that this is also true for many today. Dr. King had a dream. We are still endeavoring, day by day, to make it real, to bring it home.

Remembering the 20th anniversary of a Plowshares action for peace: Father John Dear

On Dec. 7, 1993, my friends Philip Berrigan, Lynn Fredriksson, Bruce Friedrich and I walked onto the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, N.C., at 4 in the morning, passed through thousands of soldiers in the middle of full-scale national war games, came upon an F-15E nuclear capable fighter bomber and hammered upon it to fulfill Isaiah's Advent prophecy that someday, "they shall beat their swords into plowshares and study war no more."

The 20th anniversary of our Plowshares disarmament got me thinking and reflecting because we were charged with two felony convictions: destruction of government property and conspiracy to commit a felony crime. Each conviction carries the possibility of 10 years in prison. There have been nearly 100 plowshares disarmament actions since 1980, and hundreds of people have faced a variety of prison time. Several people did serve as long as 18 years in prison.

During those many long days and nights in North Carolina jails, I often pondered our eventual sentencing. What if the judge, a devout Catholic who hated us -- especially me, a newly ordained priest -- gave us the maximum, I used to ask myself, and I had to serve 20 years behind bars? What would it be like to be released in 2013? What would the world be like in 2013?

He surprised us by releasing Phil and me after nearly nine months in jail and sentenced me to nearly another year under house arrest, but Bruce and Lynn were sent on for another year in prison.

As we begin Advent, that wonderful season of hope, prayer, peace and preparation, I've been reflecting on that intense Advent 20 years ago. I described the entire episode in my published journal, Peace Behind Bars.

There's too much to take in, but here are some random memories. First, being with Phil, Bruce and Lynn, three of the greatest activists in the U.S. I have ever had the pleasure to know. Phil was a giant in the movement like his brother, my friend Dan, and he served many more years in prison for other actions before his death in 2002. Bruce became a leader at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and Lynn became a leader in the movement for independence of East Timor then in Amnesty International, working on behalf of the horn of Africa, among other extraordinary achievements. Their friendship throughout our action, trial and imprisonment is one of the greatest blessings of my life.

Then there was my Jesuit provincial. When I asked for "permission" under holy obedience to hammer on a nuclear weapon, he looked at me as if I was crazy and exploded. Eventually, he asked me, "Why would you do a fool thing like that?" I cut to the chase and said I didn't enter the Society of Jesus to sit around and drink or watch TV with other Jesuits but to follow Jesus, who was killed for doing civil disobedience in the temple. He sat back in his chair and said, "Oh, well, in that case ..."

Then he proceeded to say something extraordinary.

"I've been teaching in university for decades, and at the end of every school year, I gave the same homily: Life is short, and someday you will stand before Jesus in the glory of heaven. When he asks you what you did with the gift of life, what do you want to say to him? I see now that when you stand before Jesus, you want to say, 'I did what I could for disarmament, justice and peace, for your reign of peace on earth. I tried to follow you by working for nuclear disarmament.' So you have my blessing, and if they kill you, I will tell everyone what a great Jesuit you were." That was so helpful and affirming.

Six months later, in the midst of his terrible schedule, this great, unusual provincial who was so open to letting me follow Jesus in this "unusual" way drove six hours to the Edenton, N.C., jail for a 10-minute visit with me before a six-hour drive home. I appeared with two armed guards, looking like the Unabomber in my orange prison pajamas and scraggly beard, and spoke behind the glass booth into a microphone.

Fr. Provincial began by asking, "So, how's the food?" The interview was over as fast as it began, and as the armed guards started to lead me back to the cell, I asked, "Do you still support me?" He leaned forward, put his hands up as if he were framing a picture and said, "John, you're right where we want you!" We both laughed.

I will never forget the action itself -- walking onto the base through some remote woods, across a field, and right through the soldiers and fighter bombers. Hammering twice on the side of the fighter bomber. Being arrested. Shutting down the national war games. Being forced to lie down on the grass with machine guns pointed at my head. Being surrounded by hundreds of soldiers and their furious commanders.

I spent that Advent in a cell with seven violent offenders, separated from my friends, at the Robeson County Jail, one of the worst in the country. I remember one prisoner stabbed another with a BIC pen right at the cell door; blood was everywhere. I remember the gentle, older prisoner across the way who was on daily heart medicine and complained to the jailers about his poor treatment. They stopped giving him his medicine, and the next morning, he was found dead in his cell. Human rights groups, I subsequently learned, charged prison officials there with 25 mysterious deaths in the five years before we arrived.

Phil, Bruce and I were moved to a common cell at Christmas. We had no books and no possessions and there was nothing to do, so I asked Phil Berrigan to tell Bruce and me his life story. He talked for a week. Those stories became the basis for his autobiography, Fighting the Lamb's War, published the following year.

That January, we were moved in the middle of the night across the state to Edenton's small county jail. The warden worried for our safety, so he removed us from the main area and put us in a kind of solitary confinement: Phil and me in one tiny cell and Bruce next door in another cell, with our own little hallway and shower. Various other prisoners slept on the floors around us.

We woke at 6 a.m., read from the Gospel of Mark, did a three-hour bible study, then shared a Eucharist with Wonder bread and grape juice. "Prisoners' pot luck," as Daniel Berrigan named it in one poem. Later in the morning, we read our mail -- for Phil and me, up to 50 letters a day. Then, lunch and more intercessory prayer, followed by a one-hour timed writing practice. Following the techniques of Natalie Goldberg, we wrote the whole time, using 2-inch pencil stubs on blank sheets. We wrote many articles and letters during the course of our time. We then rested during the afternoon. Every evening after mealtime, Phil wrote his wife, Liz.

I remember waking up each morning with the shocking realization, "I'm in jail!" It seemed impossible that I would ever be released. Time came to a crashing halt. Every hour lasted a month. A thousand times, I wanted to ask the warden if I could just go out to the local coffee shop for half an hour then come back. Eventually, I did ask him, and he had a good laugh over that. It was so hard to come to grips with the realization that I couldn't leave the cell.

For me, the whole experience was like being locked in a tiny bathroom for eight months. The whole time, I kept thinking this could go on for five or 10 more years. Our trial was declared a mistrial, so we had to wait four more months for four separate trials. Finally, that summer, we were sentenced. My statement to the judge, posted on my website, remains the most important speech I've ever given. Of course, the judge was outraged by my earnest call for nuclear disarmament, but he unexpectedly released me soon afterward.

I will never forget a letter I received from Sr. Joan Chittister: "You are reminding us that the only way toward social change is through the Paschal Mystery of Jesus." That was such a helpful affirmation, too, one I've been pondering ever since. If we want to pursue justice, disarmament and peace as followers of Jesus, we have to take up the cross and risk persecution, trouble, prison, even death and then resurrection. That's the Christian way to peace. That's the daring challenge of active nonviolence in a world of total violence.

A few years later, I was directing the Sacred Heart Center, a community center for disenfranchised African-American women and children in Richmond, Va., and hanging out with a Jesuit friend.

"Why the heck did you do that Plowshares action?" he finally asked me.

"Well, I was really just trying to follow Jesus," I answered. "How do we follow someone who did civil disobedience in the temple and was subsequently arrested, tortured and executed? What does discipleship to this revolutionary, nonviolent Jesus mean in a world of nuclear weapons and permanent war?"

For the first time, my friend understood. Of course, not everyone has to do a Plowshares action, but every Christian has to struggle with that call to discipleship.

Three friends are spending their Advent in prison right now for the most recent Plowshares action: Sr. Megan Rice, 82, of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, Greg Boertje-Obed and Michael Walli face 30 years in prison for entering the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Let's pray with them... that Isaiah's oracle will be fulfilled and we will soon "beat swords into plowshares" and "study war no more."

Our Community Could Be Safe from Violence? Investing in the Possibility of Peace

I had the opportunity to sit down with Kingian Nonviolence trainer Kazu Haga a few weeks ago. Built on principles outlined by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Kingian Nonviolence offers inspirational and practical training in prisons, schools, and communities. This is the first in a series of excerpts from our interview together. —Dawn Haney with the Buddhist Peace Fellowship

The Impossibility of Nonviolence

We were in a training two years ago [at Chicago's North Lawndale College Prep] and in the middle of the workshop one of the young women in the workshop got a text message that her best friend was just shot and was in the hospital.

We put the training on hold and we circled up and we were singing songs. The teacher for that school mentioned that there are communities, neighborhoods even, in the city of Chicago where kids getting shot up every day is not part of their daily reality. The level of violence they see in their community is not normal and we can do better than that.

Another young woman stood up with this puzzled look on her face and she was like "What?" and she started arguing with us, saying that's not true, this is how it is everywhere and this is how it's always been.

It hit me at that moment that for a lot of young people growing up in these communities they have never known anything but. The idea that they could either turn their communities around or the idea there are other communities where this isn't normal is just so foreign to them that she couldn't even comprehend the idea.

It hurt me so much to recognize that, but then a couple years later looking back on it to realize she is now one of the student peace workers at North Lawndale College Prep and is one of the students responsible for the amazing turnaround of the culture of that school just gives me a lot of hope.

Origins of Kingian Nonviolence

Kingian nonviolence grew out of a conversation that a man by the name of Dr. Bernard Lafayette had with Mr. King on the night before King was assassinated, when they were in the motel room in Memphis together. And as Dr. Lafayette was leaving the motel room, he had to go to off to Washington, D.C. to attend a press conference, Dr. King called out to him and said: "You know Bernard, the next movement we need to have is to institutionalize and internationalize nonviolence." Dr. Lafayette left the room thinking he didn't quite know what King meant by that, but that they would finish the conversation some time.

He left the room, and unfortunately they were never able to finish that conversation because of what happened just a few hours after that. Dr. Lafayette took that to be Dr. King's marching orders, to institutionalize and internationalize nonviolence education. He worked with another gentleman named David Jensen to create this training curriculum called Kingian nonviolence to take Dr. King's teachings and try to embed them into the day to day operations of high schools, prisons, jails, community centers, things like that, as a way to really take nonviolence not just as a way to protest and as a way to organize demonstrations and movements, but also as a way to teach people to relate to each other within movements, within our communities.

Investing in Peace

One of the principles of Kingian nonviolence is that the universe is on the side of justice. A lot of people look at that principle and say, "With all the violence in the world, how can you tell me that the universe is just?" One of the ways I like to look at it is sort of like the sense of karma. We get out of life what we put into it and we look at all the investments we put into violence as a society, then we act surprised when we see so much violence in the world.

I think the example that that young girl at that school showed us is if we invest in the peace, the justice in the universe will ensure that those are the returns that we get. But, it is really up to us to invest in it.

Dr. Lafayette's idea and Dr King's marching orders of institutionalizing nonviolence education in institutions around the country is a way to invest in peace and having faith that if we invest in that peace will reward us and we will see some of those returns.

Kazu Haga is a nonviolence trainer and founder of the East Point Peace Academy in Oakland, California. East Point Peace Academy envisions a world where historic conflicts are fully reconciled and where new conflict arises solely as an opportunity for deeper growth. Where the depth of human relations are so high that it allows each individual to attain their fullest human potential. Kazu works in prisons, jails, schools and communities to build a powerful, nonviolent movement of peace warriors.

Kazu's strength comes from his commitment to peace work since the age of 17, when he embarked on a 1.5-year journey across the US and South Asia, studying nonviolence while living in temples with a Buddhist order committed to peace and justice. He reflects "I believe that those working for peace need to have the same levels of commitment, training, strategy and discipline that the military invests into war. The military trains its leaders at WestPoint. EastPoint will serve as a counter to that." Contact Kazu at eastpointpeace@gmail.com

The Metta of Martin Luther King: Jason Espada

I thought it might be interesting to sketch out a few notes on the parallels between Dr. King's ideas, and the teachings on metta. Both show us love as a method of personal and social transformation. There are a few places where they overlap, and some ways they can potentially compliment each other.

For those who are not familiar with the term, metta is the step by step traditional method of Buddhist loving kindness practice. It begins with oneself, or those who are closest to us, and aims to reach a point that includes everyone.

By contrast, Dr. King drew on Christian sources to speak of love. The first ready parallel I could see was in his teaching on the different types of love:

There are three words for "love" in the Greek New Testament; one is the word "eros." Eros is a sort of esthetic, romantic love. Plato used to talk about it a great deal in his dialogues, the yearning of the soul for the realm of the divine. And there is and can always be something beautiful about eros, even in its expressions of romance. Some of the most beautiful love in all of the world has been expressed this way.

It's interesting that he starts here, with something we can all relate to, and not high up in the clouds. Metta practice also begins with the feelings we have for those closest to us, but points out, as Dr. King does next, that there is more to love than this.

The metta teachings from their outset would have us distinguish between attachment, and a more pure love between people. Basically, if we want something in return, if there is possessiveness, or if it turns into something else, such as anger or hatred, then it's attachment, and not love. We should be clear about this.

Dr. King continues:

Then the Greek language talks about "philia," which is another word for love, and philia is a kind of intimate love between personal friends. This is the kind of love you have for those people that you get along with well, and those whom you like on this level you love because you are loved.

This is also something we have all known in our lives. I recently came across a beautiful teaching on the most noble qualities of friendship in a book by Wayne Teasdale, called A Monk in the World. In it, he mentions the tradition of Latin Christianity, which 'places the emphasis on friendship's spiritual character, calling a friend in the monastic context a custos animi, or a guardian of one's soul.'

He adds: 'All friendship requires other centeredness', and, that this is 'really knowing our friends' hearts. It includes committed friendship's usual intense affective power, but it also serves our friends' ultimate well being.'

That metta practice moves from oneself, or those who are closest to us, to our friends, is intended to touch this vital quality of caring in us, to awaken and enhance it so we can share it with more and more people. There is refinement of our love, and an elevating quality that is developed.

Martin Luther King concludes this passage:

Then the Greek language has another word for love, and that is the word "agape." Agape is more than romantic love, it is more than friendship. Agape is understanding, creative, redemptive good will toward all men. Agape is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return.

In the same way as this, metta aims to become mature love. In contrast to the Christian methods, which have many wonderful features, the strength of the tradition of metta is that it sets out a path of practice that shows us what step we can take next.

Which brings me to a second parallel teaching of Dr. King's, one he called The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life.

There are three dimensions of any complete life to which we can fitly give the words of this text: length, breadth, and height. Now the length of life as we shall use it here is the inward concern for one's own welfare. In other words, it is that inward concern that causes one to push forward, to achieve his own goals and ambitions. The breadth of life as we shall use it here is the outward concern for the welfare of others. And the height of life is the upward reach for God. Now you got to have all three of these to have a complete life.

Now let's turn for the moment to the length of life. I said that this is the dimension of life where we are concerned with developing our inner powers. In a sense this is the selfish dimension of life. There is such a thing as rational and healthy self-interest..

Before you can love other selves adequately, you've got to love your own self properly.

And you know what loving yourself also means? It means that you've got to accept yourself.

God gave all of us something significant.

I'm so glad he started there. A lot of people have problems being kind to themselves, and, even if it's not essential as the very first step in loving others, from a Buddhist point of view, still it is something we all need to learn to do, if we're going to progress very far in metta practice.

One of the skillful means in metta is that it says we should start with whoever is easiest, and go from there. After cultivating thoughts of well wishing for those who are most dear to us, for some days or weeks or months, we have some tangible metta to work with. We can then start to see how we are also worthy of respect and kindness. For some people this is a long process, but it is something we can all do. I find this very encouraging to think about.

Now the other thing about the length of life: after accepting ourselves and our tools, we must discover what we are called to do. And once we discover it we should set out to do it with all of the strength and all of the power that we have in our systems

Be the best of whatever you are.

And when you do this, when you do this, you've mastered the length of life.

Now don't stop here, though. You know, a lot of people get no further in life than the length. They develop their inner powers; they do their jobs well. But do you know, they try to live as if nobody else lives in the world but themselves.

A lot of people never get beyond the first dimension of life.

So I move on and say that it is necessary to add breadth to length. Now the breadth of life is the outward concern for the welfare of others, as I said. And a man has not begun to live until he can rise above the narrow confines of his own individual concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

Metta is just this - starting with what is nearest to us and extending outwards, becoming more and more inclusive until it reaches what are called the Four Brahma Viharas, or Divine Abodes, of Universal Love, Compassion, Joy, and what I'm calling these days Peace and Equanimity, born of the strength of our dedication. (I'll come back to that last one further on, as it's a quality that was so impressively demonstrated by Dr. King and others during the Civil Rights era.)

The step wise development of metta is where it really shines. To me, to go from friends and family to all beings, seems a bit too much of a leap. Metta fills it out, and introduces a few categories to make this easier. After self, those closest to us and our friends, we're encouraged to think about and cultivate goodwill towards those we don't know personally. This opens up the field of our practice, of empathy, generosity, joy and compassion quite a bit.

In Buddhism, instead of just suggesting we have more love for others as an idea, we're encouraged to cultivate this insight in our contemplative or meditation practice. When the roots in us are firm, then the results will show themselves in our relationships, and in the world...

In Buddhism, the Theravada tradition has preserved extensive teachings on individual liberation, while the Mahayana has added the emphasis on compassion for all beings. Holding these two together as dimensions of a complete life feels both right, and generative of wonderful results for us all.

As I understand it, the Brahma Viharas, or qualities of Universal Love, lead to what is called in Buddhism 'bodhicitta', or the motivation to develop one's own understanding and positive qualities in order to be of the most benefit to others.

This leads to what Dr. King then went on to describe as the third dimension of a complete life, which I call the wisdom aspect.

Now if life is to be complete, we must move beyond our self-interest. We must move beyond humanity and reach up, way up for the God of the universe, whose purpose changeth not.

We were made for God, and we will be restless until we find rest in him.

God is the only being in the universe that can say "I Am" and put a period behind it.

Now, the way I interpret this is that the other two aspects both need wisdom to be complete. The wisdom dimension is what gives hope. If you are a Buddhist, it is confidence in the possibility we all have for liberation - that conditions are not fixed, and that we all have a treasure within, the potential to awaken. If you are a Christian, as I understand it, the ultimate truth is that of belonging; knowing God is something we are all capable of.

The Bible says, 'Seek first the Kingdom of God', and in the Buddhist Eight- fold path, Right View comes first. This is because the wisdom dimension for both Buddhists and Christians alike is the foundation of all that follows. From it comes all we are able to do for ourselves. and in our engagements with others.

Here is one place Eastern religions can contribute something of the greatest value to the West. In traditions that teach meditation, it's understood that change in a person doesn't come about because of having some intellectual knowledge or just changing our point of view on a superficial level. Instead, transformation comes through meditation, which is taking this knowledge deep, in time set apart, and awakening for ourselves to the truth the great religions teach about.

Clearly, looking at the life of Dr. King, what is most often recognized and celebrated was his wide ranging commitment to social justice. But we should remember also the profound depth of his inner life and spiritual practice, because, from that, flowed the power and grace of his words and actions.

These talks, given by extraordinary Buddhist teachers such as Roshi Joan Halifax, Sharon Salzberg, Bernie Glassman, and many more, are offered to support your practice even if you live far away from Upaya.

Santa Fe Sangha Events

THURSDAYS (most), 9:20 am: Weekly Seminar, Upaya House living room - open to the public. Topic is usually related to the dharma talk of the evening before. To confirm that the seminar is happening that morning, please email temple@upaya.org.

SUNDAY, January 26, Upaya House, 6:30 pm, Dharma Discussion Group Please join Upaya's Local Sangha as we continue our study of the paramitas, or "practices of perfection." The paramita we are studying is Concentration, or Contemplation. The group meets informally from 6:30-7 pm at Upaya House with tea and cookies, with the formal program running from 7- 8:30 pm. We encourage starting by joining the residents for the 5:30 zazen practice. All are welcome as we discuss, explore and further our practice.

SUNDAY, February 2, 3 pm: Meditation Instruction An offering of temple etiquette and instruction in Zen forms for those who are new to meditation and practice at Upaya. There is no fee, but registration is recommended. Please contact temple@upaya.org or 505-986-8518 x21.

Calgary, AB, Canada: Calgary Contemplative End of Life Care Practice Group. For professionals and volunteers working with people who are dying. Second Monday each month at Hospice Calgary's Sage Center, 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Sit starts at 7 pm. For further information, contact laurie.lemieux@hospicecalgary.com

NEW: Westbury, Wiltshire, U.K. This new group will hold its first meeting on Sunday, October 27th from 3-5 pm at The East Wing, 35 Church Street, Westbury, Wiltshire. For more info, e-mail Jan Mojsa, janmojsa@googlemail.com.